[Intro – Soft Piano, Low Strings, Breathing] (Batiste plays slow minor chords; faint organ hums under.) Yeah… Before we start— let me just be honest with myself. This year… this year came swingin’. But I’m still. Right. Here. (Deep breath, drums enter like a heartbeat.) ⸻ [Verse 1] 🎶 Twenty-five hit like thunder with no warnin’, Took my joy in March, stole my breath by mornin’. Held my newborn in one hand, my heartbreak in the other, Watchin’ my son cry while I buried his mother. The doctors shook their heads, I prayed through the night, Didn’t understand the pain, but I never lost the fight. I watched her slip away, whisper “God, don’t leave,” And He didn’t—He stayed right there in my grief. I walked out that hospital feelin’ hollow and flame, A man torn in half, but I still kept His name. I ain’t perfect, but I’m present, that’s the breakin’ of chains, Tears on my shirt but steel in my veins. 🎶 ⸻ [Hook – Choir + Your Voice, Elevated] 🎶 This the year that tried to break me, Push me, shake me, strip and remake me. But the fire don’t burn what’s chosen to stand— It forged who I am. It forged who I am. 🎶 (Choir echoes: “Still standing… still standing…”) ⸻ [Verse 2] 🎶 Then July came creepin’ with a blade to my hope, Tellin’ me my baby boy might not cope. Cancer on the papers, fear in my chest, But I said, “Devil, step back—my God do the rest.” Prayed ‘til September came through with the mercy, Benign on the scan—surgery, but he’s worthy. Held my boy after, kissed the stitches on his skin, Said, “Son, the fire that burned me gon’ temper you again.” But just when I breathed, November swung next, Job gone, heart numb, mind heavy, soul vexed. I said, “Lord, how much more?” He said, “Enough to grow.” If pressure make diamonds, I’m ready to glow. 🎶 ⸻ [Hook – Full Choir, Heavy Drums] 🎶 This the year that tried to break me, Tried to drown me, tried to take me. But every tear hit the ground like a seed— Now watch what I be. Watch what I be. 🎶 ⸻ [Bridge – Spoken Prayer Over Organ] Father… I don’t understand Your methods, but I trust Your hands. You took my heart, You tested my flesh, You shook my home— but You also carried me. And I’m still here. Not broken. Tempered. (Piano swells. Snare brushes into a slow march.) ⸻ [Verse 3 – DMX-raw intensity] 🎶 I’m scarred but I’m sacred, Bent but I made it. The storm took pieces— But never stripped the greatness. This pain is my sermon, This breath is my proof, This year was the furnace, And faith is the truth. So if the world try again, Tell it I ain’t the same— I’m the steel in the flame, I’m the man with His name. Pressure ain’t punishment, Pressure reveal— I ain’t wood in the fire— I’m tempered steel. 🎶 ⸻ [Final Hook – Choir + Brass + Full Batiste Arrangement] 🎶 This the year that tried to break me, Tried to shake me, tried to unmake me— But I walked through the fire and I’m standing still, ‘Cause steel don’t melt. Steel don’t melt. This the year that forged me stro

THE YEAR THAT TRIED TO BREAK ME